Damaged Goods
He didn't want to be here. Not in this position. If he failed the delivery, Ward would kill him in the most painful way possible. But it had to be done. Jaust looked at his watch, and saw the ship was half an hour late. Damn, he thought. Any later and Cyril would have his head on a pike. His accomplice, Armand Hobson, was quietly complaining about the freight company, to which Jaust ignored. Finally, when the ship docked, he climbed the boarding ladder, making sure the straps on his satchel bag was secure. Topside, he sighted the captain giving orders to his crew. Hobson emerged behind him. Together they went to their quarters. The bunks were ordinary. Jaust had suggested to the captain that they be left alone for the duration of the trip over his mobile. Nobody had argued. Warchelevsky's coffee machine shook as it converted a small amount of energy into matter - coffee, to be exact - for his espresso. The captain smiled and rumaged through all his mail. The bridge was specially designed to fit everything functionable into it: engine controls, telegraphs, quantum communicators. In the middle was a large holo-screen, officially installed "to allow the captain access to a broarder range of communications", but Warchelevsky used it primarily to check his mailbox. As he scrolled through the old mail, a new entry popped up. Curious, Warchelevsky accessed it, then stared at the words. There is a- The screen was tucked away and replaced by the message: your coffee is done. The captain turned back to the coffee machine, which pushed out a perfectly done espresso cup for him. He took a sip, and cringed his brow. They don't make it like they used to anymore, he thought. The mail could be checked later; anything unimportant enough to be overridden by a coffee message could be. And then he would know how wrong he was. Jaust stepped out of the shower and started dressing. Hobson was no longer in the cabin. Four years of espionage, and Jaust had never seen Hobson stay in one place for long. He wasn't sure if the guy had some kind of problem, or just hated not doing anything. Either way, nobody had bothered to ask. He made sure the cabin door was locked and took out the papyrus scroll he was to deliver to high command. It was without the slightest sign of damage. The Disce had taken much care not to do anything to it, and from this Jaust concluded it was extremely important. He slipped it back into its waterproof case, and into a hidden compartment in his coat. Warchelevsky left the bridge for fresh air, which was scarce in this world. Pollution on A98 was not as good as it was supposed to be, and the artificial photosynthesis plants had not been completed. But out at sea, the air was fresh as ever. He looked up at the flag his ship was flying. On the horizon, a Confederate ship had appeared. It was quick, and it closed on the cargo ship so fast that Warchelevsky did not see it until all its guns were primed and pointed at him. "This is Commander Raul Yekist of the 9076th Confederate Navy..." The rest of the commander's voice was unheard by Warchelevsky. He knew he was going to die soon. He hurriedly checked his mailbox once more, and finished the mail he partially read earlier. And swore. "Activate defense protocol one," he said into the wrist computer. Jaust looked outside, and saw the Confederate ship firing at them. The fore deck was full of craters and wounded or dead crew members. A dazed Warchelevsky stood on the deck, talking to his wrist computer. The ship shuddered. Jaust looked over the guardrail and saw the hull plates opening, cannons poking out from underneath. They were fighting back. But how? It was a cargo ship. An explosion blew a piece of the bridge down, and Jaust turned in time to see the Union flag be shot away. Watrchelevsky turned and charged at him. "Give me the package!" The captain heaved him over, and started punching him. "Where is it?" Jaust activated a portable taser on his finger and jabbed the captain on his neck. He fell still. Jaust picked himself up and ran back to his cabin, fully aware of the melee going on behind him. Hobson was there, waiting for him. "My coat," he breathed, seeing two more crewmen converging on him. He turned to face them but was struck from behind. Hobson stood over him, a small baton in his hands. "Armand?" Jaust stared on in horror, as Hobson waved the papyrus scroll's case at him, then tucked it into his own pocket. "Sorry, but my time has come." Hobson took out a mobile device and showed it to the crewmen. "I sent your captain the message. Take him away." Traitor, thought Hobson. Before either of the men could move, an explosion knocked them over and two Confederate troopers emerged from the smoke, one of them in Administrator colours. A glowing weapon was pulled out, and Hobson crumbled to dust as the troopers walked over the fallen crewmen and executed them. Jaust used the oppoirtunity to play dead, hoping the Administrator or the soldier was not armed with a vital scanner. Out of luck, neither did. The walked over him, moving into the next corridor. Jaust sighed in relief, and took the case back from Hobson's remains. Making his way to the port deck, where the lifeboats had not been destroyed, Jaust stumbled through the smoke coughing and spitting. Jaust boarded one of the hi-tech life rafts, which were designed for twenty people, and disengaged the locks holding it in place. The raft splashed down into the water with him piloting it away. Within minutes the cargo ship had become nothing more than a speck in the distance. Jaust looked down at the case in his clenched fist, which had almost cost him his life. He opened it and unraveled the scroll. It was unreadable, as it was written in a language he had never seen before. But there was an illustration. An image of a lizard that was as big as a person. Somehow, it filled Jaust with fear.